Residents under the aegis of Lekki Residents Association in Lagos State have attributed incidences of cultism and drugs-related violence being experienced in the community to unemployment.
The association’s Chairman, Mr Yomi Idowu, who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos, expressed concern over the spate of cultism and gang-related violence among youths in the community.
‘’They have nothing to do; most of the youths you see here are not from Eti-osa area of Lagos; some are even from another state entirely, but they all believe that you can make money here (in Lekki).
‘’You can imagine a 12, 14, 15-year-old boy standing on the street in Lekki, begging to make N1,000 a day and I group them into three classes.
‘’The first group is the fresher; second class is those into begging and doing drugs; the third class is those on drugs who are no longer begging, but demanding.
‘’When they come in as fresher, they beg for money in traffic and make N1,000 daily, but then, they have nowhere to sleep; they sleep on the road.
‘’After a while, the ones who have been before them will invite them to sleep by the roadside; so when the fresher complain of mosquito bites, they introduce them to drugs so they do not feel it.
‘’So, we need first to tackle unemployment and make the youths useful, ‘’ he said.
The chairman said that establishing a youths’ centre in all the senatorial districts of the country would help in curbing the menace.
According to him, the youth centres should have three sections including sports, educational, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
‘’You see these youths, between 10 and 20 years old, this is the best time of their lives when their talents can be discovered; some can be good footballers.
‘’So, the first section will be the sports centre with coaches and trainers in football, tennis, swimming, basketball and equipping them.
‘’The second section is educational: some kids come to me, expressing their interest to go to school, but getting admission into those schools are difficult. So, for those that wish to continue their education, this section will serve them.
‘’There will also be a proper ICT section where the youths can learn coding and everything ICT-related: it will include a lounge with free access to WiFi.
‘’Once the centre is established, youths in the community will be well engaged, taking many of them off the streets and curbing criminal activities in the long run,‘’ Idowu said.